Four Seasons
by ChaseTheClouds
Summary: No one knows where she came from. Who she is-that's even more of a mystery. Before today, nobody had even heard of her. Why should they have? She's been hiding away from civilization, only appearing now. Why would someone want to do that? Because everything alive that Hyacinth Glade touches dies.
1. Prologue

~Prologue~

_Six years ago..._

Nightmares had plagued Hyacinth Glade throughout the night. She almost regretted managing to find a place to sleep on the tiny island she had woken up on the day before. Hyacinth sat under a rock alcove, her legs swinging over the ocean, feet skimming the water. The instant her foot touched the spray, it turned to ice. She wasn't surprised, already used to the fact that her touch changed, even killed, things.

The day before, Hyacinth had sat down by a tree, only to realize the tree had withered and the grass had yellowed in a ten-inch-radius around her. The squirrel that had landed on her shoulder died immediately. Hyacinth then discovered that liquid turned to ice and could be melted or boiled at will. But the scariest thing was when inanimate objects came to life. It had happened when she was trying to climb up a huge rock. The only thing she could say was she hoped it would never happen again, at least when she wasn't suspecting it.

She stood up and carefully walked across the thin-tree bridge. Hyacinth caught a reflection of herself-short black hair and two longer braids in the back. Then she turned away, back to the well-trodden path through the forest. It twisted and turned out of view farther off, but Hyacinth figured she was pretty safe. The grass still yellowed and died if she stood still too long. Without a glance back, Hyacinth headed down to the path. She left an almost-invisible trail of slightly yellow grass and wilted flowers.

If Hyacinth had looked back for a second, she would have managed to catch a glimpse of the person following her, but she hadn't. The shadow carefully trailed her quietly, well aware of where she would end up.

A few minutes later, Hyacinth could see the trees thinning out, a clearing coming into view along with that giant tree's roots. She stopped in the middle, turning around in a circle to survey her surroundings. The only interesting thing was the grave. Hyacinth ignored it for the moment, her back still to her follower.

"I know you're there," Hyacinth said. The shadow detached itself from the trees and came into view. It was a man with black hair even darker than Hyacinth's.

"How long have you known?" he asked.

"Since yesterday," Hyacinth replied, her bare feet leaving little imprint on the dirt as she traced a light circle. For a moment it flared a pale blue.

"You have sharp senses for a ten-year-old." The man took a few steps closer. And he had shoes, dammit. Hyacinth became aware of the sense that something was missing. She shoved it to the side.

"Am I ten?" she traced the circle again, deeper this time. The blue light shone again, and Hyacinth began to add to the circle. "I've never given that much thought. Who are you?"

"I should be asking that, having been here longer." He was at the edge of Hyacinth's expanded circle. She was in the center, making a deep indent.

"Humor the little girl." Hyacinth drew a line in the indented circle, eyes fixed on the man in front of her as if she was waiting for something.

"I am Zeref."

Hyacinth didn't react. "Hyacinth Glade. I am the touch of death in a glade of living beings."

The swirl of black smoke that she had been waiting for spun around the person in front of her, getting larger every second. Hyacinth swiped her left hand downward and breathed one word. "_Repel_."

The circle around her glared pale blue, parting the black. The blue faded a second later along with the black swirl. The circle in the dirt was gone, the ground seeming to be as untouched as it had been before. Only Hyacinth looked completely unfazed.

"How did you do that?" Zeref demanded. Hyacinth blinked.

"Instinct? What was that?" There was the barest hint of curiosity in her voice, hardly detectable.

"Something that would have killed you."

Hyacinth watched warily as he came closer. She didn't say anything in response, just yanked at one of those long braids.

"Do you know where you came from?" Zeref asked.

"Why would you ask that?" So it probably wasn't just a random memory loss that made her unable to remember anything before the day before.

"Because you weren't here two days ago. That's why."

Hyacinth shrugged. "I don't know. Big deal. Living things die when I touch them, water freezes and boils, big deal. Do you know why? You do, don't you. That expression is extremely easy to read."

Zeref was standing in front of Hyacinth now. "Show me the back of your hands."

Confused, Hyacinth held them out. There were four marks on her hands, like she had been cut with only a scar left as a reminder.

"Do you know what these mean?" Zeref reached for Hyacinth's left hand. She snatched it away.

"Don't touch me!" she yelped.

"Nothing will happen. You saw earlier. It'll just cancel out." His hand was still outstretched. Hyacinth reluctantly extended her hands out again, placing the left one on Zeref's hand. Nothing happened.

"So what does it mean?" Hyacinth stared at the marks on her hand. Zeref pointed at each one.

"Winter, summer, spring, and autumn," he said. "It's extremely rare to hold all four and manage to contain them. The seasons tend to be unruly sometimes."

"You make it sound like they're alive. Like they have their own will."

"They do. It is a complicated matter, and it you learn, then you accept.

"Accept what?" Hyacinth tore her gaze from the marks to meet Zeref's eyes.

"The burden of such immense power. One misstep and you may have well sealed your doom."

"And what happens if I accept?"

Zeref paused and Hyacinth looked at the marks again. He exhaled. "Then I will train you."

Black smoke began to curl from their hands. Hyacinth snatched her hand back with a cry. She swatted the smoke and it vanished quickly with the disgusting smell of rotting food.

"Then..." her voice trailed off. "Train me."

Mavis Vermillion, the first master of Fairy Tail, had taken to watching Hyacinth as her training with Zeref progressed. She had to admit, it was rather interesting, watching Hyacinth run across an obstacle course of wood without anything dying (which happened most of the time), figuring out to mold ice, and summoning the seasons. A few weeks passed before she got up the courage to approach Zeref.

"That's you, isn't it, Mavis?" 

Mavis landed lightly on the grass. "You still can't see me, can you."

Zeref turned towards her voice. "No, I can't. Why are you here?"

"You are not intending on keeping Hyacinth here, are you? One day she will need to get out into the world."

"And I suppose I shall have no say," Zeref replied. Mavis felt a stab of shock at the tone of his voice.

"Have you grow-"

"That is none of your business, Mavis," he interrupted. "Are you going to be the one taking Hyacinth?"

Mavis easily dodged his question with her own. "What did you plan on using the seasons for? It must have been awfully convenient, having all four delivered at your doorstep."

"My plans are my own business. Convenient isn't the right word, too. The circumstances make it hard to even think of it that way."

"Either way, you will need to let her go out someday. Hyacinth will be playing a vital role in any showdown involving you and Fairy Tail." Mavis realized her choice of words was poor a little bit too late.

"So you're going to influence a child for your own purposes?"

"Remember, she isn't ten years old. She'll be wise enough to see the best side to choose. How much longer does Hyacinth need?"

Zeref didn't respond, only looking behind Mavis where Hyacinth had emerged from the bushes.

"Who was that you were talking too?" she asked. "I swear I just saw some person with wings in her hair standing here."

Mavis stayed quiet, wondering how Hyacinth could have seen even a glimpse of her without the guild mark.

"Someone you will meet soon," Zeref said shortly. Hyacinth nodded, looking less like a ten-year-old than ever. Of course, she wasn't one in the first place, so why take note of that?

"I had a dream," Hyacinth announced.

"I'm sure we all did at some point." Zeref turned around to leave, and so did Mavis. But Hyacinth's next words stopped the two rivals.

"It was about this girl who fell off a cliff." Hyacinth's voice trembled. I don't know how it happen, but do you know what she did before falling? She looked at me and I couldn't help but realize she looked exactly like me. Am I crazy?"

Zeref paused before he responded, not answering her question but instead giving her an explanation. "There is a parallel world of Earthland. It is called Edolas, and there are people there who are parallels of ourselves."

"But there's no parallel of me is there."

Mavis whipped around at the same moment the other tilted his head to face Hyacinth. How had she realized so fast?

"What makes you say that?" There was a careful casualness in Zeref's voice.

"It's just this odd sense. Nothing that I can explain easily. Why isn't there a parallel of me?" Hyacinth demanded.

"Sometimes it happens," Zeref said dismissively.

"But there is a reason." This was a statement rather than a question.

"There isn't always a reason. If there is, than I don't know."

But Mavis could tell that Hyacinth knew he was lying, and he probably could too.

"At least tell me sometime. What did you mean that I would have to leave eventually, Mavis?" Now Hyacinth turned to Mavis. "Don't be so surprised. I can see the seasons, so why can't I see you?"

Mavis didn't answer the second question. "There are answers out in the world. But the question is if you are ready to leave the safety of Tenroujima Island for the dangers of the world. I can bring you to a safe place back at the mainland at the guild Fairy Tail."

Hyacinth was quiet for a moment. She lifted her left hand to her chin, fingers out, and blew. The wind picked up and by the time it had settled she was long gone.

"I suppose she needs time to think." Mavis turned to leave again, only barely catching Zeref's last words.

"Hyacinth's existence here is as much your fault as it is mine."

And unfortunately, Mavis knew that it was true. She could have done something before, and she hadn't. Instead, she had unintentionally done a sabotage, and now there were going to be some serious consequences if even one thing went wrong.

Screw it all

One day, a few weeks later, Hyacinth was trailing after Mavis in the pouring rain. Mavis had pulled Hyacinth through a rather suffocating place and came out in Magnolia, according to Mavis. The rain had only poured down harder at Hyacinth's presence.

"Are you sure you don't want to buy an umbrella? They sell them here." Mavis bobbled along happily. Hyacinth shook her head, water spraying.

"No thanks. I'd rather not," she replied. She was clutching a short staff in one hand and a leather bound book in the other.

"What do you think of the things Zeref gave you?" Mavis asked. Hyacinth sensed immediately that she was fishing for information. It wasn't that hard to tell-Hyacinth had done that plenty of times.

"They're fine. Mavis, what is it that you have against Zeref? The seasons had warned me about-" she stopped abruptly, staring at the giant guild in front of her. "This is _huge_!"

Mavis laughed. "No kidding. It _is_ the most-ah-famous guild in Fiore. What did you expect, a wine cellar?"

"I don't know, something...less...huge?" In that moment, she felt more like the little girl she was. But that feeling passed quickly. She raised her hand to knock on the closed door.

"Hyacinth," Mavis said, before she could knock. "Don't tell anyone about me or Tenroujima Island and anything else that happened."

"Okay, Mavis. You never answered my question though."

"You'll understand someday. We will meet again, Hyacinth Glade." With that, Mavis was gone. Hyacinth took a deep breath and knocked on the door. When nobody opened it, she knocked again, accidentally causing the door to disintegrate into black dust. At that same moment, a pink-haired boy a year older than Hyacinth came flying out. He slammed against the wall on the other side with surprising force. Hyacinth winced.

"_Gray! What was that for?_"

Hyacinth winced again. This boy was loud. A black-haired boy-Gray-was standing at the door grinning.

"I didn't do that, but I'm glad that happened, flamebrain." He smirked. Pink-Haired-Idiot pulled himself up and charged at Gray, his whole head on fire. He was a fire mage. Hyacinth figured the other was an ice mage. Standard rivalry.

Before Hyacinth could do anything, an armor-clad figure reached out an arm and pulled Hyacinth in.

"Sorry. Natsu and Gray are like that all the time. You can dry off later if you want. I'm Erza Scarlet. What are you here for?"

"I'm here...to join Fairy Tail, I suppose," Hyacinth said softly. Erza smiled at that.

"Well! Come on this-"

Natsu slammed into Erza, knocking her into the bar counter.

"You idiot!" she yelled. A white haired little girl was laughing as she walked up to Hyacinth with the guild mark.

"I'm Lisanna. They're always like this."

"I figured." Hyacinth had a faint smile on her face, holding her hand out at Lisanna's gesture. Lisanna stared at the marks on her hand, looked at the other, and realized they were on both hands.

"What are these?" Lisanna asked.

"Um, they're marks of the seasons. Makes it easier to channel the magic. The staff's also supposed to help."

"Then where do you want the mark?" Lisanna was holding the mark like a knife and smiling innocently. Hyacinth paused thoughtfully, then brushed her wet hair to the side.

"How about here? I don't know, just somewhere easy to cover it if I have to."

"I wouldn't have thought of that. Well, we're all different. You said seasons? I have Take Over," Lisanna remarked. She put away the guild mark after she had put it on Hyacinth.

"The seasons are an old magic."

Hyacinth turned to see a short old man sitting on the counter.

"I've never heard of someone holding all four," he said. "I'm Master Makarov. Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

"Thank you, Master Makarov." Hyacinth nodded. "Um, do you know what this staff is? Ze-The person who gave it to me said it was legendary or something."

The Master picked up the staff and tapped the top lightly. The leaf changed into a skull, horrifyingly realistic. Lisanna jumped back in surprise.

"What is that?" she yelped (behind her, Natsu, Gray, and Erza were still punching each other). Hyacinth had to admit that it was gruesome.

"Well," the Master began. "This is said to be the staff held by each of the seasons before they assumed their spiritual form. Has its own store of power. How in the world did you get this?"

Hyacinth shifted uncomfortably, remember what Mavis had told her. "Someone gave it to me a while ago."

"Take care of it, Hyacinth." Master Makarov jumped off the counter and handed the staff back. He walked away humming to himself.

"How did he know my name?" Hyacinth asked to no one in particular. Lisanna shrugged, eyes still fixed on the staff.

"Could you...change the staff?" she stammered. Hyacinth blinked and tapped it. The skull turned into an impossibly intricate snowflake.

"Sorry, Lisanna," she said.

"It's okay. Do you have anywhere to stay?"

Behind them, Erza was trying to yank Natsu and Gray from each other with little success. They were clinging to each other stubbornly.

"Now that you mention it, no, I don't," Hyacinth admitted.

Lisanna turned to the older girl nearby. "Mira-nii, can Hyacinth stay with us?"

Mira looked at Hyacinth and back to her younger sister. "For now, I guess."

"See?" Lisanna spun back to Hyacinth, beaming happily.

"Nothing ever puts you down, huh?" Hyacinth muttered. "You're so happy-go-lucky."

"Natsu makes her sad sometimes," Mira said. "Only by accident, though."

Hyacinth opened her mouth to reply, but Gray came hurtling her way. She sidestepped him. After a second's thought, Hyacinth pointed her staff at him and froze Gray in a block of ice. She was sure that he was glaring at her, but Hyacinth ignored him.

"Bad luck, iceblock!" Natsu laughed, his fist on fire. Hyacinth pointed her staff at him too.

"Don't you two ever calm down?" she sighed. "Or are you too busy fighting to use your perfectly fine brains?"

"So you just dragged Hyacinth off?"

"Sooner was better than later, otherwise they would have become suspicious."

They were arguing again, but this time Mavis had decided to stop wasting time and leave. She spun away before the other could get another word in.

And, obviously, Zeref was fine with that. The first Master was as insufferable as she always was. They'd go back to ignoring each other soon enough. Zeref picked up a purple ribbon lying on the ground. Hyacinth had dropped it earlier that day, probably when Mavis had pulled her through the "tunnel."

Zeref turned the purple ribbon over, barely able to make out the words on the other side. They were fading rapidly, along with the edges.

"_Death will never stop me_," he read. The ribbon turned to dust in his hands, blowing away in the wind. Zeref smiled to himself. Hyacinth had been carrying around such a clue, and she had never realized. Even the smartest had their dumb moments, it seemed.

He began to walk away from the thin tree-bridge Hyacinth had crossed that day a few months ago. There was already a sign of decay, the rot accelerated because she had touched it.

The fact that she was at Fairy Tail didn't ruin any of Zeref's plans. They actually made everything slightly easier, if not even riskier. Everything had risks at some point, though.

All around Zeref, the wind picked up. His next words were barely audible in the howling wind swirling around him.

"We may eventually be on opposite sides, but we will meet again, one way or another, Hyacinth Glade."

Far away, Hyacinth heard the vaguest whisper of his words, dismissing it as another one of Natsu and Gray's silent threats to each other.

**Hello people! Okay so…there isn't much to say except…um, idk? XD well I hope you liked the first chapter I will try to update soon~**

**-**_**Stari**_


	2. Alone, Surrounded By People

~Alone, Surrounded By People~

_Present time, six years later..._

Lucy Heartfilia sat at the bar, absentmindedly clutching her cup. Natsu and Happy were off on a fish-hunting expedition-their second one this week. She sighed, faced again by the crisis of not having enough money to pay her rent this month. Lucy was thinking about which job to take when everyone fell silent. And at the guild Fairy Tail, that was rare. Lucy turned around to see what it was all about.

"I'm back." The girl by the door had long white hair done in a loose braid down her back. Around her neck was a thick scarf with a thin chain peeking out. Her black coat was wrapped tightly around her as if she had just come back from somewhere cold. She undid the buttons that held it as she walked over to where Lucy was sitting.

"Hey, Hyacinth," Mira said cheerfully. "How was the job?"

"Easy," Hyacinth adjusted her fingerless gloves. She looked at Lucy. "Who's the new girl?"

"I can talk, you know. I'm Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy snapped irritably.

"Yeah, I heard about Phantom Lord," Hyacinth replied, a little bit rudely.

"Where were you?" MIra asked. "We could have used some help.

Hyacinth smirked. "I'm sure you could've. I was...visiting family. Why do you look so sad, Blondie?"

"It's _Lucy_, not _Blondie_!" Lucy sighed. "I can't pay my rent because Natsu destroyed everything on our last job!"

"That sounds like him. How much is your rent?" Hyacinth asked.

"70,000," Lucy replied. "Why?"

"How's this. I'll pay the rent, if you let me stay at your place for a bit. I'm going back out soon." Hyacinth tossed a bag of money at Lucy, who barely managed to catch it.

"I guess you could stay," Lucy admitted. Hyacinth smiled a little, then shifted to the side, barely dodging Happy and his fish.

"Hyacinth's back!" Happy yelled and picked up his fish.

"Your realization came a few seconds too late," Lucy muttered. Natsu came in holding three more fish, another stuffed in his mouth. He choked it down when he saw Hyacinth.

"You're back! Fight me, Hyacinth!"

Hyacinth just stared blankly at him.

"I'm all fired up now! Fight me!"

She extended an arm and pointed at all three of his fish. They floated into the air, grew sharp teeth, and came back to life snapping angrily at the over-excited Natsu.

"You are not strong enough, Natsu," she said. Lucy blinked.

"Is Erza strong enough?" she asked out of curiosity.

Hyacinth shook her head. "Erza could, but it wouldn't last quite as long for it to be entertaining."

Lucy decided not to say anything at that. Hyacinth picked Happy up and gently tugged his ear. "Have you been good, Happy?"

"No!" Happy replied honestly. Hyacinth raised her eyebrows at this.

"Is that so? I was going to give you this fish necklace, but-"

"Yes!" Happy squeaked. Hyacinth tossed the chain in her hand to the blue cat. Mira had an amused look on her face.

"Where in the world did you get that?" she asked.

"Hm? Oh, it came with the reward. Figured Happy would like it or something." Hyacinth shrugged dismissively.

"Hey, Hyacinth..." Lucy began. Hyacinth looked at her.

"Yeah, Lucy?" she asked, pulling out a small communication lacrima from the pocket of her jacket.

"Why don't you have your own place to stay? I'm not saying you can't stay at my place, but it might be a bit cramped if Team Natsu is there," LUcy said quickly, hoping Hyacinth wouldn't take offense.

"Oh, that's because I hardly ever stay for a long time. What's the use in paying rent for a place you hardly even use, anyway? Who's on Team Natsu?"

"Erza, Gray, and Natsu. And me, I suppose."

"And me!" Happy piped up. Hyacinth dropped the lacrima on the ground, where it rolled away.

"Erza. Gray. And. Natsu. What?"

"Erza usually stops Gray and Natsu from fighting," Mira said as she passed by, handing out drinks. Hyacinth bent to pick up the lacrima from the floor.

"I still don't-can't believe that! But I guess it's true that unexpected things can happen."

The chain under her scarf slipped out a bit further, enough for Lucy to see the charm. It was an infinity symbol, simple compared to the staff Hyacinth held.

"What's that?" Lucy couldn't help but ask.

"This? Just an old thing. I've had it forever." Hyacinth rolled the lacrima between both of her hands. There were four marks on the back of her hands, two on each. Lucy felt that it wasn't a good idea to ask Hyacinth about it.

"I keep telling Hyacinth that the necklace is from some forgotten person who likes her," Mira whispered to Lucy conspiratably. Hyacinth tucked it back under her scarf and went to look at the job board.

"What makes you think that?" Lucy asked, prepared for a barrage of out-of-the-world-Mira-theories.

"Well, she's out often enough and back here rare enough. She has to have met someone and then forgotten about him. I overheard her talking to Lisanna a few years ago about some _he_, but she didn't mention it again," Mira explained softly.

"Mira, that's not the best-"

"But that's not all!" Mira continued, hushing Lucy. "Once, when she first came here, she said _Ze_, then changed her mind! Do you get it?"

"No, not really," Lucy muttered. "How old was she when she got here?"

"Ten. That was six years ago."

Lucy choked. "Mira! That's a ten-year-old you're talking about!"

"Old enough to have a crush, and then they met again! Isn't that so sweet?" Mira asked.

"That's so unrealistic!" Lucy had recovered from her choking.

"That's my theory," Mira winked. "Like the one about you and Natsu."

Lucy groaned. "That was not even _true_."

"Are you sure? I-"

"Do you two have nothing to do but gossip?" Gray slid into the seat next to Lucy. "Hey, Hyacinth."

"Hey, Gray," Hyacinth replied, examining a job slip. She pulled one off and walked back over to the bar.

"You're taking that job?" MIra gasped. "It's dangerous! Nobody's taken it for weeks!"

"Exactly," Hyacinth replied. "That's my kind of thing, since I'm not S-Class yet."

"You're not?" Lucy asked in surprise. Gray nodded in response.

"Hyacinth hasn't participated in any of the tests because she said she wasn't in the mood," Gray said. Hyacinth nodded.

"Besides, I was out the last few times. I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'll only be at your house for one night." Hyacinth looked at Lucy. "I heard that Loke is a spirit, huh? It really took you that long to realize?"

Lucy shrugged. "I'm the new girl, remember?"

"Oh. Right." Hyacinth smiled, the same faint smile as before. "I knew that all along, Blondie."

Hyacinth was sitting cross-legged on Lucy's floor, playing with Plue, as Lucy sat at her desk, writing. She noticed the set of dumbbells shoved in the corner of the room.

"What are these for?" she asked. Plue began to dance, singing happily.

"Natsu left them hear the last time he barged into my house," Lucy replied. Hyacinth nodded and they fell into an awkward silence.

"What are those marks on your hand for, anyway?" Lucy finally broke the silence before it became unbearable. Hyacinth brushed her long white hair, freed from the braid, to the side.

"You're a Celestial Mage, am I right? You use keys to summon spirits and stuff like that?" Hyacinth didn't wait for a response. "See, the Zodiac keys and those silver ones aren't the only things that can access spirits. I am a Mage of Seasons, and these marks help me channel their power. The staff's supposed to help too."

"What are the seasons like?" Lucy turned on her chair to face Hyacinth...only to realize Natsu was behind Hyacinth. "Why are you in my house, Natsu?!"

"Because there was nowhere else to crash," he said, pouting.

"I see what you meant earlier," Hyacinth muttered, watching as Lucy kicked Natsu right in the stomach. Natsu doubled over in pain, though it was probably more out of shock.

"Geez, Luce! I do this all the time!" he yelped.

"Don't you have any sense?" Lucy demanded, glaring at Natsu. Hyacinth couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I think you knocked all of the common sense out of his head," she said. Natsu's head spun around to face her.

"Hyacinth! Fight me," he pleaded. Hyacinth shook her head firmly.

"I already told you to wait a few years. Do you want to be unable to do jobs and leave Lucy unable to pay her rent? Then you'll have no place to hang out at." She sounded as if she were scolding a disobedient dog. Natsu deflated as her realized her point.

"By the way, where's Happy?"

Hyacinth looked around, seeing what Lucy meant. Happy was nowhere in the room.

"I don't know. He was behind me the whole time," Natsu muttered. "He's probably distracted or something."

"I'll go look for the blue cat," Hyacinth said. "I'm bored anyway. You two can go catch up or something."

"What?" Lucy yelled, but Hyacinth was already out the window. She ran down the dark streets of Magnolia to the bridge closest to Lucy's house. On a hunch, she peered under the arch and saw Happy clinging onto tone of the wooden beams. He breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"I thought you were that theif!" Happy said, well, happily. "The person who stole that fish necklace you gave me."

"Someone stole it?" Hyacinth blinked. "That's it? Well, come on, Natsu's waiting for you at Lucy's place."

She tried to pry Happy off the bridge, but he refused to be dragged off. "No! I want that fish back!"

Hyacinth sighed. "_Happy,_ come on!"

"No. I want the fish back," Happy repeated stubbornly. Hyacinth let go of him.

"If I agree to find it, will you let go?" she asked. Happy nodded. "Fine, I'll try to find it. Which way did they go?"

Happy flew up beside her ear. "That way."

He pointed to the dark alley nearby. Hyacinth groaned. "An alley? Just what I needed. Winter Page!"

Her clothes flared, replaced by the Winter Page Armor-a pale blue dress and armor around the neck. Around her head was a ring of icicles. Happy tried to break one, but she swatted him irritably.

"Hands off, Happy. You coming?"

"Aye!"

Her leather boots pounded on the ground, barely making any noise. Hyacinth looked around before slipping into the alley. It opened up into a small square complete with a fountain in the middle. On the other side was another alley leading out.

It was blocked by a single cloaked figure. Hyacinth sensed a familiar magic, but she couldn't quite place where it had come from. She advanced slowly, staff pointing outwards.

"You stole something that belongs to my friend," Hyacinth said with a threatening edge in her voice.

"That cat?" The voice was familiar too. Hyacinth struggled to grasp where it came from.

"Aye!" That was Happy. Hyacinth ignored him.

"Does it matter?" she demanded. "Give it back."

The figure made a tsk-tsk sound. "So worked up over a simple charm, are we?"

She threw the chain onto the ground in front of Hyacinth,. Happy swooped by to pick it up.

"Who are you?" Hyacinth asked.

"You don't know who I am?" The person on the other side stepped closer, unafraid of the staff that Hyacinth was pointing.

"I have met many people over the years. Why should I know?"

"That's too bad. Care for a hint? I'm not really here. This is just a Thought Projection."

Hyacinth's eyes narrowed. "What good does that do? It won't matter if you are here or not. Winter strikes everybody everywhere, all the time."

"Adopted my quote, have you? I'd tell you who I am, but the cat here..." The cloaked figure gestured at Happy with long fingers. Hyacinth's eyes darted to Happy.

"Happy, go back to Lucy's place." When she saw that Happy was about to argue, she added, "I'll be fine."

"Aye," Happy said, a bit sadly. He flew away in the direction of Lucy's house. Hyacinth turned back to the thief.

"Who are you?" she demanded again. A gust of wind blew off the hood easily.

"Do you remember who I am now? I am only here because I have a relatively simple task to ask of you."

Happy burst into Lucy's room just as she was going to punch Natsu in the face for annoying her. She looked up in surprise. "Happy!"

She rushed over, just as Happy stuffed away the fish chain. "What happened?"

"I wanted to ask that!" Natsu complained. "What's happened Happy?"

"Someone stole the chain Hyacinth gave me!" Happy wailed. Lucy nodded slightly, remembering.

"You got it back, right?" she asked. Happy nodded a couple of times and landed her bed, folding away his wings.

"Hyacinth got it back for me." Happy jumped on the bed, much to Lucy's disapproval.

"So what happened to Hyacinth?" Natsu asked, only just realizing that the Mage of Seasons wasn't there.

"She stayed behind," Happy said vaguely. At Lucy's glare, he continued. "She stayed behind to fight someone she knows from before."

"Fight? Did you say fight? Hyacinth fights some stranger when she doesn't want to fight me?" Natsu yelled. Lucy sighed.

"Hyacinth is being considerate, Natsu. She doesn't want to hurt anyone who's in the guild more than she has to. What are we supposed to do, Happy?"

"Let's go help Hyacinth! Then she can fight me!"

"Aye, sir!"

Lucy groaned and followed them outside. Happy led the way, turning right once and left three times.

"You just led us in a circle!" Lucy snapped.

"No, I didn't. It's this way!" Happy called from ahead. Lucy and Natsu chased after him, crossing the bridge where Hyacinth had found Happy. Happy shot down the alley, almost losing the other two.

"Slow down, Happy!" Lucy yelled.

"Is Lucy out of shape?" Happy asked innocently. Lucy growled in frustration, almost slamming into Natsu as he stopped suddenly.

"What is it, Natsu?" Lucy asked, peering over his shoulder. Her eyes widened in surprise. The fountain in the center had the top broken off and water was spraying in a high arc. Sitting in front of the fountain was Hyacinth, with some strange armor and a cut cheek. Hyacinth looked up, clearly needing a moment to catch her breath.

"You idiots," she said faintly. "I told Happy that I would be fine."

"What do you mean, fine?" Lucy demanded. "You look exhausted!"

Hyacinth tilted her head back to look at the night sky. "I'm not anywhere near exhausted, Lucy. I just need to catch my breath. Didn't want to be drenched when I came back so I had to keep dodging the sprays of water from that damn fountain."

Lucy ran over to pull Hyacinth up. Hyacinth batted away her hand.

"I'll get up myself. Don't waste your energy on me," she said, dragging herself up using the fountain seat. Her armor shimmered and reverted back to her normal clothes.

"Come on, Natsu, let's go back," Happy called from above. "I wanna go to sleep."

"Coming, Happy!" Natsu followed Happy back down the alley. Lucy took advantage of their absence to question Hyacinth again, whether she wanted it or not.

"What happened?" Lucy asked. Hyacinth avoided her gaze, staring off somewhere that Lucy couldn't see.

"Just some nasty thief that managed to give me some trouble. Winter didn't seem to want to be dragged out at such an hour."

"Happy said it was someone you knew from before," Lucy pointed out. Hyacinth shot her a glance.

"Oh? I'm sorry to crush your theory, but it is no one that I know. I heard what you and Mira were talking about. Mira is far from the truth as she'll ever get, and it's not even as amazingly dramatic as her wild theories." Hyacinth began to follow Natsu and Happy.

"You overheard?" Lucy asked, as if needing confirmation. Hyacinth nodded and turned her head to look back.

"But there is one thing Mira could possibly be right about," she said, the previous hostility now seemingly a thing of the past.

"What is that?" Lucy ran to catch up with Hyacinth. She was walking at a surprisingly quick pace for someone in her exhausted-seeming condition. Lucy hated to admit it, but she had a hard time keeping up.

"You honestly don't know?" Hyacinth's eyebrows flew up, one vanishing under her white bangs. "I must say, you are surprisingly unobservant."

"Tell me, Hyacinth!" Lucy whined. Hyacinth shook her head, an amused smirk on her face.

"I don't see any real need," she replied.

"Hyacinth! Does being Mage of Seasons make you some kind of avoiding-questions-expert?" she demanded. Hyacinth spared Lucy another glance, a surprisingly disdainful expression on her face.

"I've had very good teachers," Hyacinth replied shortly. "That's a period of my life that I would rather not spend time lingering on."

Lucy wondered what she had done to offend the younger (and scarier) mage, if anything at all. "But what do yo-"

"This is why I don't like to stay at the guild. There are always questions, always questions that seem to be harmless, but whether they mean it or not, it hurts on the inside." Hyacinth spun around a corner, the tip of her jacket snapping to follow her. When Lucy managed to reach the corner, Hyacinth had vanished.

The thing was, it was a straight street extending both directions for a long ways down. There was absolutely nowhere Hyacinth could have vanished to.

Natsu was dreaming about food. Food, like fish, noodles, pies, and so on. They were piled up high on multiple tables, and the best thing was, he didn't have to share it with Happy. Half the food would have been gone, especially those fish (who cared if they were raw, it was still food).

He rolled over in his sleep still dreaming. Just as he was about to dig in, the wall next to him crashed down, and an extremely angry looking and giant Happy stormed in, yelling something about stolen things and fish. All Natsu really knew was that someone was here to take his stuff.

_Crash!_

Natsu woke up to find Hyacinth's foot under his arm. He blinked. What just happened?

"Natsu! Can't you even sleep without destroying things?" Hyacinth hissed angrily. He realized that she had packed for a long journey. She pulled herself up, kicking off his hand from her foot and picking up a picture frame that had fallen. Amazingly, Lucy and Happy were still asleep.

"Ruin what?" Natsu asked blearily.

"My brilliantly dramatic exit." Hyacinth rolled her eyes.

"_Dramatic exit?_ You mean you're leaving?" Natsu demanded after a second. His sleepy mind was taking a while to wake up. Maybe it was from the food dream that had turned into a nightmare.

"Do you ever remember me sticking around for over a day after I had established myself at Fairy Tail?" Hyacinth reminded.

"No," Natsu admitted, sitting up. "You never completely wanted to be part of our family, especially after Lisanna died."

Hyacinth had reached the door. "Once again, you have got your facts wrong. But if you believe that, it's completely fine by me."

She paused, and before he could say anything, she continued. "I actually have no intention of doing that job. I have my own errands to run. If you can keep training, maybe next time I return you will be strong enough to have a decent fight with me." 

**Heyyy I am back! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I have to study for my finals...ugh why do these exist anyway? Anyway, I WILL update next week...hopefully XD Sorry Fairy Tails, I forgot to mention you but THANKS ANYWAY FOR READING MY UNEDITED/CRAZY DOCS BEFORE I PUBLISHED THEM**

**R&R please~~~~**

**-_Stari_**


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